Disendorse candidate who blames women when they're raped.

Gavin King wrote “If a woman drinks to excess and is raped or assaulted, is she partly to blame? As uncomfortable and difficult as this question is, the answer surely is yes."

Unbelievably this man has been endorsed by the LNP and is the candidate for Cairns. He’s even got a good chance of winning at the Queensland state election in March.

But he has views that have no place in modern politics. In addition to his assigning blame for rape on survivors, he’s called the baby bonus “a dodgy money making scam for poor people with high libidos”, and complained about having to “iron my own shirt two days in a row” when his wife didn’t do it for him...

These kinds of views have no place in modern politics. If enough of us speak out, Campbell Newman will see Gavin King for what he really is -- an electoral liability. He should be disendorsed as soon as possible, and replaced with a candidate who isn’t stuck in the misogynistic dark ages.

Letter to

Leader, Liberal National Party QueenslandCampbell Newman

LNP Candidate for CairnsGavin King

LNP Women's PresidentAnn McKenzie

Stop VICTIM BLAMING - Sack Gavin King

Do you know the first question most victims are asked under cross examination in a rape trial?

"How much had you had to drink?". If he or she happens to have consumed any alcohol at all, that line of questioning will be pushed. And pushed. And pushed.

Why? The aim is spark an idea in the mind of the juror - "How can we be sure it was rape if she was intoxicated and may have actually consented at the time?"

No woman, or man, who suffers such an act of sexual violence is ever to blame. Whatever the circumstances. The trauma that follows rape is agonising, constant and REAL.

When working as a journalist, LNP Candidate Gavin King posed the question: If a woman drinks to excess and is raped or assaulted, is she partly to blame?

King wrote: "As uncomfortable and difficult as this question is, the answer surelyis yes."

The LNP Leader Campbell Newman stands by Mr King, and his comments, issuing a clarifying statement that both he and King believed that nobody ever "Deserved" to be raped. See how they dance around the issue of blame apportionment there?

This is the 21st Century. If Mr King wished to put forth his views in such a fashion he should have pursued a career as the next host of the Bolt Report, not public office.